When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, its a good core workout. If youre sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More

Many of us remember coming home from our elementary schools with freshly glazed pinchpots, cups, or whatever else our young imaginations could conjure up. Saturday mornings at the Randall Museum can bring that memory back, or create a new one for the youngsters. Ceramics make great gifts — especially on Mothers' and Fathers' Day. Hop on board for the Randall's once-weekly class, and for $6 and two weeks to have your work fired and glazed, you'll have all the materials you need.More

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Once famous throughout the league as a haven for misfits and rejects looking to resurrect their careers, the Raiders have for the last decade or more made an art from out of epically wrong personnel decisions.

Neither Applejack nor Apple Bloom pay this any mind, and Apple Bloom is sure that Applejack (who's far too modest to toot her own horn) will win plenty of blue ribbons at the Equestria Rodeo competition in Canterlot, and they'll go nicely with all of Applejack's other blue ribbons.

There's an even more pressing need for Applejack to come in first place: She's promised to donate the prize money to the rebuilding of city hall. And what happened to city hall? Derpy happened. Lo and behold, the fan-sourced character is named, and speaks, in the Derpywatch to end all Derpywatches. It's also a solid fifty-three seconds of quality slapstick.

(There was a whole big foofaraw about this scene, a hullabaloo which I don't personally care about and thus consider beyond the scope of these recaps. If you care to get deeper into the fracas, I recommend listening to the discussion starting at about 10:00 on Bronyville Podcast #43. Beyond that, I got nothin'.)

Applejack's friends and family see her off as she boards the Friendship Express to Canterlot. Apple Bloom is excited about all the new blue ribbons Appleajack is sure to win, while the Mayor -- like Pretty Boy Floyd -- doesn't care about trophies, just cash.

A week passes, and a surprise party is set up for Applejack's return. But not too surprising a party, Fluttershy reasonably hopes, lest it veer into "startling" territory.

The real surprise comes when it's not Applejack at the door by a mailpony, who thinks the party is for him.

Even more surprising is the letter he was carrying from Applejack: She'll send money soon, but she's not coming home.

Never ones to not meddle when meddling is an option -- and, admittedly, because the Apple family is devastated, and nopony does "sad face" quite like Big Macintosh -- the Mane Six Minus Spike and/or Applejack set off to find their missing crew member.

Their search leads them to the frontier town of Dodge Junction, the train ride to which includes My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic's first genuine potty joke. (I'm not counting the diaper joke in the previous episode, because you can't do a babysitting story without a diaper joke.) It happened. I acknowledge that it happened. A lot of people liked it, and I respect that, but it hurt my soul a little. Let us never speak of it again.

In Dodge Junction, Applejack is startled to see her friends.

And Rarity is startled by the aesthetics of Applejack's new boss, as she should be.

It would seem that Applejack is now working at the Cherry Hill Ranch under one Cherry Jubilee, who hired Applejack after seeing her win so many ribbons of an indeterminate color at the Rodeo.

Applejack refuses to return to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash is not happy about this ...

... but that's not Applejack's problem.

The back half of the episode is a series of set pieces as they try to get Applejack to tell them what's going on, including a conveyor-belt scene which goes exactly in the I Love Lucy direction it must ...

... and siccing flibbertigibbet Pinkie Pie on her ...

... all of which leads to a somewhat prolonged chase sequence.

Finally caught, the contents of her saddle bag spilled open for all to see, Applejack tells the truth.

She didn't win any blue ribbons, or money, which is why she took the job -- to earn the money she's promised Ponyville, the residents of whom she's too embarrassed to face, even her family. On the train ride back home, she delivers her first Shoehorn: Sometimes you're going to fail, and you can't run away from your problems.

"The Last Roundup" starts strong, but there's a lot of filler, and the parts never quite add up to a satisfying whole. Thankfully, in the tradition of great episodes following subpar ones -- cf. "Owl's Well that Ends Well" b/w "Party of One" last season -- a great episode is about to follow this subpar one.

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Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"